


With the Benefit of Foresight

by Psychoboy



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:00:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22841374
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Psychoboy/pseuds/Psychoboy
Summary: Full disclosure: I just wanted to write an episode of Miraculous Ladybug with my self-insert OC as the main antagonist. Sue me. Except please don't, because I don't have a lot of money.This might turn into something more later, who knows. It'll definitely start out as a pretty typical episode of the show, at any rate. More specifically, it takes place shortly after the events of Season 3. Should Season 4 come out between now and this story's completion, just bear that in mind. Hope you all enjoy!





	With the Benefit of Foresight

As far as cliche opening lines go, there are few that top “it was an ordinary day at X.” Granted, there’s always “Once upon a time” and “It was a dark and stormy night” if one is truly bereft of inspiration, but “It was an ordinary day at X” is probably right below them. Nevertheless, it was indeed an ordinary day at X. X being, in this case, Françoise Dupont High School, where one Marinette Dupain-Cheng was presently fiddling with her locker between classes. The new school year had begun recently, bringing with it a fresh crop of Freshmen.

Said Freshmen were still getting their bearings as they toured their new school. Marinette turned from her locker momentarily to see one such boy looking around uncertainly as he stumbled through the halls, evidently looking for something. So distracted was he that he completely missed the yellow-clad girl in front of him, and he accidentally bumped into her, jostling her slightly.

“Oh! Sorry about that!” The boy grinned sheepishly as he held out his hand to the girl he’d just hit, looking apologetic. “Just… looking for my locker. This school is way bigger than my old-”

“I should hope you ARE sorry!” The boy jumped back in fear as the girl shouted in his face. “That a stupid little freshman wouldn’t look where he’s going is one thing, but that he would actually run into _the_ Chloe Bourgeois? Ridiculous, utterly _ridiculous_!”

“Chloe… Bourgeois?” The boy asked, looking up at her quizzically. “Should I know you? Are you famous or something?”

Chloe placed a hand on her chest, gasping in melodramatic shock. “You mean to tell me you don’t recognize the daughter of MAYOR Bourgeois? I can’t believe this! I’m the closest thing this school has to royalty, you know! I DEMAND to be treated with more respect!”

“Give it a rest, Chloe!” Marinette couldn’t stand by any more while the haughty yellow girl tormented this poor freshman. “He bumped into you by accident. You’re not hurt or anything!”

“Well, obviously _you_ wouldn’t understand, Dupain-CHENG!” Chloe replied, folding her arms and looking over her shoulder at Marinette. “People probably run into _you_ for fun! But I am a delicate flower! What if I’d tripped, and fallen, and hit my head on the floor? I could have _died_!”

Marinette sighed and rolled her eyes. The freshman suddenly brightened up. “Wait, I know you! You’re Queen Bee!”

The pampered girl’s demeanor changed drastically at the mention of that name. “Oh, why yes, I am! The superhero who bested such villains as-”

“You’re that supervillain who almost stole all the miraculous for Hawkmoth!”

Chloe’s words caught in her throat, a blush creeping up on her face. “W-well, yes, but I was… under his influence at the time. Nobody’s really the same when they’re akumatized…”

“Right, but like, you were the first person to actually _let_ yourself get akumatized, weren’t you?” The boy seemed quite proud of himself for recognizing her. “It was all over the news! “Queen Bee - the New Hawkmoth?”

Marinette couldn’t help but hold back a laugh at that. The other students were a bit more vocal about their mirth, however; even Sabrina was hiding a smile. Chloe could do nothing but stand there, red in the face. So quickly, her self-righteous tirade had turned into yet another mockery fest. Such events had been occurring with distressingly increased frequency lately.

“Hey, hey, come on, guys!” A well-dressed blonde boy entered the hall, stepping between the crowd and Chloe. “Don’t you think you’ve laughed at her enough? Remember, she did it to save her parents!” He placed a hand on her left shoulder.

“Oh, come off it, Adrien!” A dark-skinned girl showed up to the boy’s left, glaring in anger. “You don’t get to defend her any more! That whole “she’s not so bad” bit only goes so far!”

“Yeah, dude!” A boy with even darker skin and a baseball cap showed up next to the girl, planting a kiss on her cheek before continuing. “Because of Chloe, Alya and I can’t be superheroes any more!”

“Hey, _I_ can’t, either, Nino,” Chloe pointed out, somewhat quietly.

“Yeah, but _you’re_ a bitch,” replied Alya. “You shouldn’t have been a superhero to start with! Honestly, I don’t know what Ladybug was thinking, giving you a Miraculous… she always seemed to have pretty sound judgement, to me!”

“Wait a second,” the freshman said, butting in at that, “you know Ladybug???”

Alya turned to look at the new kid, her face flush with pride. “Of course I do! In fact, a couple times Ladybug entrusted me with the Fox Miraculous! You’re looking at Rena Rouge!”

“Wow…” the boy gazed up at her, starry-eyed. “So cool! Can you sign my trading card?” He dug around in his backpack for a moment, before withdrawing a trade binder full of trading cards. He hunted through the binder before extracting a foil-embossed card with Rena Rouge’s face on it.

“Of course!” Alya took the card from the freshman, putting a signature down where it wouldn’t get in the way. “To my good friend… hey, what’s your name?”

“Oh, sorry!” The freshman bounced on his toes as he watched her work. “My name’s Ray! Nice to meet you!” He held out his hand as if for a handshake, and Alya gave him back the card with a smile.

“Nice to meet you too, Ray!” Alya said, as she got back to her locker.

“Hey, dude, you want my autograph too?” Her boyfriend said, sidling up to Ray. “My name’s Nino Lahiffe, but you’d probably know me better as Carapace!”

“Oh, awesome! Yes, please!” Ray flipped through his binder again, quickly pulling out a card with Carapace jerking a thumb at the shell on his back.

“Woah, this is really neat!” Nino said, examining the card more closely. “Hey, Alya, check it out! I’ve got special abilities! “Prevent all damage that would be dealt to you this turn… Oh, I get it! Because of my shell!”

“Woah, really?” Alya came over and took a closer look at the card. She turned it over and read the logo on the back. “The… Miraculous Trading Card Game? We have a trading card game?”

“Oh! Do you have a Ladybug one?” Marinette burst in from the back, where she’d been getting her things for her next class, suddenly excited to see.

“Sure do!” Ray replied proudly, holding up a shiny, foil Ladybug card. “They’re the rarest card in the game, able to copy any other ability on the battlefield! A foil one like I’ve got is going for hundreds of Euros right now! I can’t afford that, but I was lucky enough to crack one in a pack! It’s the pride of my collection!”

“Wow… so cool!” Marinette gazed in wonder at her picture in card form, the sparkling suit, the dynamic pose, the cool, confident stare that said _I got this_! Her wonderous gaze fell a little as she stared, though; was this how France saw her? How could she possibly live up to this card?

Ray, meanwhile, was having the time of his life. Max and Kim had shown up to see what all the commotion was about, and were presently signing the freshman’s cards as well.

“Are you sure this is wise?” Max asked in concern, as he examined his own card. “It is my understanding that cards are usually at their most valuable in mint condition. If I were to besmirch this first-edition foil card with ink, the value would doubtless decrease.”

“Are you kidding?” Kim asked his friend, laughing. “You clearly don’t trade baseball cards, Max! If you get your card signed by the guy on the card, it’s way more valuable!”

“Yeah, Kim’s got it,” Ray said with a wide grin. “If you guys sign my cards, they’ll be way more valuable! Oh, man! I thought my collection was complete before, with foil versions of every hero card, but man, if I get autographs from every hero…” His face suddenly fell. “Ah… but it’s not like I’m gonna get Ladybug and Cat Noir to sign theirs, huh?”

“Hey, don’t worry,” Alya said, patting him on the shoulder with a wink. “I’ll put in a good word for you! Me and Ladybug are super tight! If anyone can finish your collection, it’s me!”

Ray’s heart lit up once again. “Thank you… thank you so much!” He happily packed up his cards again, then paused and pulled one more out.

“Um, hey… Chloe?” He asked, walking up to her. “I’m sorry again for bumping into you and - and bringing up… well, you know. I was… wondering… if you’d be willing to sign your card?”

Chloe had been just about to sneak off while everyone was staring at their cards, but she paused when she heard her name. “Oh. Well. I would… hate to disappoint my adoring fans, I suppose…” She said, as though pondering whether or not she should. “Sigh… very well. I’ll sign this _ridiculous_ card of yours.” She held out her hand impatiently.

Tentatively, Ray placed the card in her fingers. She held it up to examine… and the slightly hopeful look on her face faded.

“Wha- Miracle Queen? Why did you give me the villain card? You didn’t ask Alya to sign Lady Wifi! Give me my hero card!”

“Your… hero card?” Ray asked, stepping back, slightly intimidated.

“Yes, yes, give me Queen Bee! I refuse to sign this one! Hurry up before I change my mind!”

“Oh! Um..” Ray rubbed the back of his head. “Well, it’s just that it’s still the first edition, and not everyone’s been accounted for… they’re working on some more characters for the expansion... they still don’t have a Monsieur Pigeon card, if you’ll believe it…”

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” Chloe asked him dangerously.

“...They didn’t print a Queen Bee card yet?”

Chloe Bourgeois went deadly silent. Then, she let out an ear-splitting shriek, throwing the card to the ground. Ray yelped and dove for it, picking it up and quickly stuffing it back into the binder.

“This is RIDICULOUS! Utterly _RIDICULOUS_! They didn’t even print a card of me! Me, Ladybug’s best friend in the whole wide world!

“Chloe, you are not-”

Shut _UP_ , Dupain-Cheng!” Chloe snapped, grabbing the card Marinette was still holding in her hands.

“Hey, um, please be careful with that! It’s really valuable, and-”

“Oh, come on!” Chloe asked, turning on Ray. “This stupid card game is WORTHLESS! This stupid collection is WORTHLESS! And this stupid card -” she tore it in half “- is -” She tore the halves in half “- _WORTHLESS_!” She stomped on the pieces with the heel of her shoes. Then she turned on those same heels and stormed off.

Ray stood there, his mouth hanging open, unable to say anything. Marinette rushed up to him.

“Oh my God, Ray, I’m so sorry! If I hadn’t spaced out while I was holding that card -”

“No, no, I’m sure it’s fine,” Ray said, kneeling down and cradling the pieces of the card in his hands. “I-I mean… a first edition… foil… ultra-rare… Ladybug card… torn up by _the_ Miracle Queen…” His breath caught in his throat. “This was my college plan…”

He quickly stuffed the pieces into his pocket, before burying his head in his hands. “I… I need to go to the bathroom.”

“Wait, Ray-” Marinette held her arm out helplessly as she watched the boy run off. Her arm fell to her side and she sighed sadly.

“Ah, great,” Alya said, next to her. “You just know that kid’s gonna be akumatized now. It’s always Chloe, isn’t it?”

Max hummed in agreement. “I just looked up the value of a foil Ladybug card… Chloe just literally destroyed hundreds of euros. That would be enough to push most anyone over the edge.”

“Come on, you guys, have some tact,” Marinette said. “You can’t just say that!”

“Don’t worry you guys, I’ll go talk to him,” Adrien said. “I’m sure Chloe will pay him back once she cools down a little. In the meantime, the best thing to do is help Ray feel better.” He headed off to the bathroom in pursuit of Ray.

Marinette allowed herself a small sigh at the sight of Adrien leaving. “He’s so compassionate...” But then she shook herself out of it. She was dating Luka! _Luka_!

Alya sighed. “I sure hope Adrien can fix this before it gets out of hand,” she said. “In the meantime, girl, you and I should probably get to class.

“Oh! Right!” Marinette rushed to follow her as the bell rang, signalling the next period.

\---

Far away, on the other side of Paris, a particular skylight opened from a hidden butterfly garden, a man clad in purple and silver standing in the middle of his countless pets.

“Having something of such great value, both sentimental and monetary, torn from you… is there any pain more exquisite?” The man held out a gloved hand, and one of the white butterflies fluttered onto his palm. He covered the creature with both hands, filling it with a dark hateful energy, before releasing it once more.

“This boy will make a fine minion, indeed; fly away, my little Akuma… and evilize this poor youth!”

\---

“You don’t need to do this, you know,” the black kwami said to Adrien, as he stood in front of the bathroom door. “Just let the kid cry it out, and if he turns into an akuma, we can beat him up. It probably won’t happen, anyway; Hawkmoth only gets like one guy a week.”

“Come on, Plagg,” Adrien replied to his secret friend. “What kind of a superhero would I be if I didn’t help those in need? Ray’s clearly in a lot of pain right now! I owe it to him, me, and Chloe to try to set things right!”

“Fiiiiine,” the cat kwami said,rolling his eyes. “Go have your bonding moment. I’m gonna go see if Ms. Mendeleiev left any cheese out today.”

“Just don’t get caught again, okay?” Adrien asked, grinning, as he walked through the door.

The fashion icon cautiously knocked on the closed stall, on the other side of which could be heard muffled sobbing. “Hey… you okay in there?”

Silence for a moment. Then: “What do _you_ care? Come to apologize for your girlfriend?”

“She’s not my - okay, first of all, ew,” Adrien replied. “Second of all, I’m spoken for. Look… I know Chloe is a bit… hard to deal with, sometimes.” He sighed, leaning against the bathroom stall. “But she only acts this way - at least, this is what I think - because she’s lonely. I’m pretty much the only friend she’s got, more or less, you know? I mean, there’s Sabrina, but it’s pretty clear that’s not a friendship, what they’ve got going.”

“So what, you feel _bad_ for her? For _her_?” Ray’s voice was tinged with anger. “She doesn’t deserve your pity. And I’m pretty sure she doesn’t want it, either.”

Adrien shrugged and chuckled. “I’m not so sure Chloe knows _what_ she wants,” he replied. “Look, Ray: I’ll talk to her in a bit, once she’s cooled down, and I’ll get her to buy you a new Ladybug card. Mint condition, foil, first edition. I might even be able to get Ladybug herself to sign it…” Maybe he shouldn’t be throwing that particular offer around, but hey, this kid was about two minutes away from an akumatization. Adrien had to be generous.

More silence, then the door slowly opened. “You… you think you can get Ladybug to sign a card for me?”

“Absolutely, dude! Don’t you worry about it!” Adrien grinned hopefully at Ray, who sniffled a bit, then nodded.

“Yeah… that’d be pretty cool.”

\---

“What? No, no, boy! Don’t mess this up for me! His pain was so potent, so _exquisite_ …” Gabriel Agreste seethed in anger as he felt his grip on Ray start to weaken “Damn. If only I had some way to rekindle that fire…

He snapped his fingers. “Ah, of course!” Quickly, his butterfly changed course, flying instead to a different part of the school.

“Does Lord Hawkmoth require my assistance?” A woman in a long blue overcoat fanned herself in the corner, smirking at her employer.

“Not yet, Mayura,” Hawkmoth replied, offering her a thankful smile. “It’s not as keen, but there’s still plenty of anguish in this school: the pain of rejection, of being remembered only for your worst example! With Chloe’s new hatred of Ladybug, she should make for an easy target… and she’ll ripen up our new friend’s anger as well…”

He began to laugh evilly, while behind him Mayura did the same. The akuma flew ever onward, inexorably approaching its new target...


End file.
